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Family Dinner Can Save Kids
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| Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 | Emily Halevy | CWK Producer |
“If you have dinner with your family, including your kids, five nights a week, you have amazing results.”
– Nancy McGarrah, Ph.D., psychologist
Ever wish there was some kind of magic potion that could help keep your kids off drugs, make sure they get good grades and have nice friends?
According to a new study there is, and it’s a ritual that’s been around for ages - family dinners.
For many families, group dinners have become extinct - but not at the Cleveland house.
"We probably eat dinner together six times a week as a family," says Julie Cleveland, mother of two. "It’s extremely important because that’s where we meet and catch up on our day."
This may seem surprising, but according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, an hour at the dinner table is the best way to prevent your children from using drugs.
"If you have dinner with your family, including your kids, five nights a week, you have amazing results," explains psychologist Nancy McGarrah.
Teens who eat dinner with their family are half as likely to smoke, a third less likely to try alcohol and 70 percent less likely to have a substance abuse problem.
Experts say it’s all about communication.
"It’s not necessarily a heavy duty philosophical talk about birds and bees, it’s more just communicating about their day, school friends, and you learn a lot," says McGarrah.
And, she says, making that time can show your kids just how much you care.
"I think it gives kids a definite message to kids if they see that their parents make an effort to be home during that time," says McGarrah. "Even if it’s a couple days a week, it’s a start and I think their kids will be happy that the parents are making that effort."
Julie says with their busy schedules, making time to sit down together can be tough, "Cause Kellie has dancing and Luke has basketball and some nights are more difficult than others."
But the kids say it’s totally worth it.
"I think it’s really special," says Kellie.
Luke agrees, "I like it a lot, cause it’s very fun."
What We Need To Know
- Eat dinner at the table with no other distractions, like the TV. Your “audience” will be much more captive without other things going on. (Nancy McGarrah, Ph.D., psychologist)
- Try not to make the dinner table a battleground. Don’t nitpick over rules, manners and finishing the meal. If parents are nagging the kids the whole time they aren’t going to enjoy eating meals with the family. (Nancy McGarrah, Ph.D., psychologist)
- According to the study, the main reason why family dinners are so infrequent is because of conflicting schedules. Make a point to place dinnertime as a top priority. (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse)
- Of course, there are no “silver bullets’ for eliminating teen substance abuse. But parental engagement around the dinner table is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce any risk. (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse)
Resources
- The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University
- Cliff Valley Psychologists
